I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9037 

To require the development of a workforce plan for the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 15, 2024 

Mr. CARTER of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Mr. 

EZELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To require the development of a workforce plan for the 

Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Emergency 

5 Mobilization Accountability (FEMA) Workforce Planning 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FEMA WORKFORCE PLAN. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis10 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Agency. 


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1 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Agency’’ means the 

2 Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

3 (3) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

4 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

5 (4) SURGE CAPACITY FORCE.—The term 

6 ‘‘Surge Capacity Force’’ means the Surge Capacity 

7 Force described in section 624 of the Post-Katrina 

8 Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 

9 U.S.C. 711). 

10 (b) PLAN DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 1 year 

11 after the date of enactment of this Act, and not less fre12 quently than once every 3 years thereafter, the Adminis13 trator shall develop and submit to the Committee on 

14 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen15 ate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc16 ture of the House of Representatives a human capital op17 erating plan to shape and improve the workforce of the 

18 Agency. 

19 (c) LEADING PRACTICES.—The Administrator shall 

20 develop the plan required under subsection (b) in accord21 ance with best practices outlined by the Director of the 

22 Office of Personnel Management, the Comptroller General 

23 of the United States, and other sources relevant to the 

24 Federal workforce. 


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1 (d) CONTENTS.—The plan developed under sub2 section (b) shall include— 

3 (1) performance measures to monitor and 

4 evaluate progress toward the human capital goals of 

5 the Agency, including filling staffing gaps, closing 

6 skills gaps in mission critical occupations, and imple7 menting workforce training and, if applicable, 

8 progress toward meeting those goals since the date 

9 of submission of the most recent plan under sub10 section (b), including— 

11 (A) a process to monitor and evaluate 

12 progress toward those goals; 

13 (B) a discussion of why the Agency has or 

14 has not met those goals, including a description 

15 of specific barriers; and 

16 (C) a discussion of the addition or deletion 

17 of any specific performance measures; 

18 (2) details of the types of employees of the 

19 Agency, including by hiring authority and cadre; 

20 (3) a comprehensive analysis of the projected 

21 costs associated with implementing the plan; 

22 (4) strategies and practices designed to increase 

23 cost efficiency within the workforce operations of the 

24 Agency, including reducing overhead costs, improvVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Aug 20, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9037.IH H9037

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1 ing resource utilization, and avoiding unnecessary 

2 expenditures; 

3 (5) a detailed analysis of how the Agency deter4 mined the current overall staffing goals of the Agen5 cy; 

6 (6) an analysis of the current workforce of the 

7 Agency and possible gaps in the current staffing 

8 structure of the Agency needed to fulfill the mission 

9 of the Agency, including an assessment of— 

10 (A) the critical and emerging skills that 

11 will be needed in the workforce of the Agency 

12 to support the mission and responsibilities of, 

13 and effectively manage, the Agency during the 

14 3-year period following the date of the submis15 sion of the plan, including target staffing num16 bers by cadre, region, and office; 

17 (B) the skills of the workforce of the Agen18 cy, including numbers of employees by cadre, 

19 region, and office on the date of submission of 

20 the plan; 

21 (C) projected trends in the workforce of 

22 the Agency based on expected losses due to re23 tirement and other attrition, including any 

24 known data for the causes of attrition; and 


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1 (D) the staffing levels of each category of 

2 employee of the Agency, including shortages in 

3 the workforce of the Agency and in the pro4 jected workforce of the Agency that should be 

5 addressed to ensure that the Agency has contin6 ued access to the critical and emerging skills 

7 described in subparagraph (A); 

8 (7) a plan of action with specific recommenda9 tions for developing and reshaping the workforce of 

10 the Agency to address the gaps in critical and 

11 emerging skills described in paragraph (6)(A), in12 cluding— 

13 (A) specific recruitment and retention 

14 goals by cadre and mission critical occupations, 

15 including the analysis that the Agency uses to 

16 produce those numbers; 

17 (B) specific strategies for developing, 

18 training, deploying, motivating, and retaining 

19 the workforce of the Agency and the ability of 

20 the workforce of the Agency to fulfill the mis21 sion and responsibilities of the Agency, includ22 ing the program objectives of the Department 

23 and the Agency to be achieved through such 

24 strategies; 


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1 (C) specific strategies for recruiting and 

2 retaining individuals needed to address work3 force gaps within specific cadres; 

4 (D) specific strategies for the development, 

5 training, and coordinated and rapid deployment 

6 of the Surge Capacity Force; and 

7 (E) any necessary legislative proposals to 

8 improve recruitment and retention; and 

9 (8) a discussion that— 

10 (A) details the number of employees not 

11 employed by the Agency serving in the Surge 

12 Capacity Force and the qualifications or cre13 dentials and training of such individuals; 

14 (B) includes information on annual data 

15 relating to the deployment of the workforce of 

16 the Agency following major disasters or emer17 gencies declared by the President under section 

18 401 or 501, respectively, of the Robert T. Staf19 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

20 Act (42 U.S.C. 5170, 5191) during the 3-year 

21 period preceding the date of the submission of 

22 the plan; 

23 (C) details— 

24 (i) average tenure and attrition data, 

25 categorized by type of attrition, for— 


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1 (I) types of Agency employees by 

2 hiring authority; and 

3 (II) specific offices, regions, and 

4 cadres of the Agency; and 

5 (ii) any known reasons why some 

6 types of Agency employees or specific of7 fices, regions, or cadres of the Agency may 

8 have higher levels of attrition and strate9 gies to address those higher levels of attri10 tion; 

11 (D) details— 

12 (i) efforts of the Agency to help pre13 vent and respond to discrimination and 

14 harassment; and 

15 (ii) information on reported cases of 

16 discrimination and harassment within the 

17 Agency and the outcomes of those cases; 

18 and 

19 (E) describes, with respect to hiring infor20 mation of the Agency, the time between the 

21 date on which the Agency validates a need to 

22 hire a new employee for a position and— 

23 (i) the acceptance of an offer of em24 ployment for the position by an applicant; 

25 and 


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1 (ii) the start date of the employee at 

2 the Agency for the position. 

3 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

4 of the submission of the plan required under subsection 

5 (b), the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

6 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov7 ernmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

8 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep9 resentatives a report that— 

10 (1) analyzes whether the plan meets the re11 quirements of this Act; and 

12 (2) includes necessary recommendations to en13 sure subsequent plans meet the requirements of this 

14 Act. 

15 (f) NO NEW FUNDS.—No additional funds are au16 thorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carrying 

17 out this Act. 

Æ 


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